Forum for former BBC staff

Forum for former BBC staff
http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> Pensions >> December inflation figures http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1295353383 Message started by Administrator on Jan 18^th, 2011, 12:24pm

Title: December inflation figures
Post by Administrator on Jan 18^th, 2011, 12:24pm

These show that RPI (Retail Prices Index) for year ended December 31st was up by 4.8 per cent. The December RPI figure has been the basis of BBC Pensioners' increases in the past.

CPI (Consumer Prices Index) was up 3.7 per cent on the year. As "Knocking On" pointed out in a previous post the Government has announced that it will use the CPI to determine pension increases in public sector schemes, from April this year.

Does anyone know whether the BBC has any plans to switch to CPI?

Perhaps the Pensioner Representative on the trustees could offer some insight? Does anyone have any communication with him?

Title: Re: December inflation figures
Post by Administrator on Jan 18^th, 2011, 12:25pm

Here is the official announcement giving details of the inflation figures.

Title: Re: December inflation figures
Post by Administrator on Jan 18^th, 2011, 6:45pm

In the latest BBC Pensioners' Association newsletter Alan Bilyard and Tom
Rivers write:

"The BBC as the sponsoring employer would certainly like it if
pension uprating for BBC pensioners was calculated by reference to the CPI
rather than the RPI. It already intends to apply CPI indexation to the new
defined contribution pension for future pensioners. ...That means pensions
in payment and the entitlement of deferred pensioners will be calculated
for 2011 by reference to the December 2010 RPI figure as in previous years."

Title: Re: December inflation figures
Post by burgmanman on Jan 19^th, 2011, 6:55am

I wonder what the legal posiion is for existing pensioners is. Could this also be "forced" onto them?

Title: Re: December inflation figures
Post by Administrator on Jan 19^th, 2011, 6:06pm

A Pension Co-ordinator at the Pensions and Benefits Centre in Cardiff sent this today:

"The Scheme Rules state that pension increases will be based on RPI. There are no plans to change this at present."

Title: Re: December inflation figures
Post by Knocking On on Jan 20^th, 2011, 2:05pm

At least we can rest slightly easier regarding the coming rise. Although the quote from Pensions using the words "At present" obviously doesn't rule out changes in the future.
Thank you however for getting someone in authority to say something.